1

I've noticed 2 instances of usage of a the prefix where it doesn't seem to correspond with standard usage of English.

The flu

I'd expect a flu or just flu:

  • He caught a flu
  • She's infected with flu
  • They have flu

Instead, the common usage seems to be the flu, such as Is It a Cold or the Flu? How to Tell the Difference or Dispelling misinformation about the flu vaccine (with more examples inside).

The movies

Mid-way of writing my argument for this one, I've noticed it had been asked and answered, albeit I was not convinced why "the movies" as a way to describe walking to a cinema to watch a movie, stayed as an idiomatic phrase today (a relic from a past usage of "moving pictures") and wasn't replaced by the simpler, singular form of a movie.

Happy to hear your thoughts for this one here or in the original thread.

Improve this question
8
  • This has been asked and answered here easily a hundred times.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Jan 30, 2020 at 1:46
  • You may get better explanations at ell.stackexchange.com
    – GEdgar
    Commented Jan 30, 2020 at 2:29
  • @HotLicks links would be helpful (I cited the only one I found, for only one of the usages)
    – Ofer Zelig
    Commented Jan 30, 2020 at 2:39
  • @GEdgar seems like here is more appropriate
    – Ofer Zelig
    Commented Jan 30, 2020 at 2:41
  • Influenza spreads around the world in yearly outbreaks. Although there may be differences in these outbreaks, the differences fade beneath the commonalities. Influenza seems like one thing, advancing, striking its victims and retreating--and then returning. It seems like one particular thing, a definite thing, and thus the definite article.
    – Zan700
    Commented Jan 30, 2020 at 3:43

0

Reset to default

Browse other questions tagged .